Investigation of Jackson mayor closed

The criminal investigation of Jackson Mayor Paul Sander is closed, and no wrongdoing was found, a state attorney general spokesman said Friday.

Sander, mayor since 1993 and seeking re-election in April, finally has resolution to a 2-year-old inquiry.

"I'm obviously pleased on the behalf of the city of Jackson that this has come to a conclusion," Sander said. "I just want to thank the hundreds of people who called me, who wrote notes and continued to believe in me. I told them the truth would come out in the end, and it has. We've had nothing but honorable intentions for the city."

Sander also noted that other city officials were included in the allegations. Given that the city has been investigated for two years and no wrongdoing was found, he said, that must mean Jackson is "squeaky clean."

Beyond that, Sander admonished Paul Fisher, a resident who developed property at the city's southern limits and brought the accusations to the Cape Girardeau County sheriff's department. Sander maintains that Fisher made these claims in retaliation for several disputes between Fisher and the city.

"He knew it was bogus from the beginning," Sander said.

A message left at Fisher's home Friday night was not returned.W

hen asked if he learned anything from the experience or what he might change if he could go back in time, Sander said there was nothing.

"This [investigation] is a risk you take when you make decisions that make people mad," he said. "This just shows what can happen to anybody if the right person gets the right ear."

One facet of the investigation that reached the public surrounded the use of city equipment and employees to locate a sewer line at property outside the city limits, property that Sander was trying to sell as a real estate agent. This occurred in 1998.

The mayor said he offered to compensate the city at the time, but payment was not accepted by the city administrator. City attorney Tom Ludwig said in a media conference that the city sometimes lends equipment outside the city as a goodwill gesture.

The investigation also included inquiries about the city's purchase of a 60-acre tract for the industrial park.

The investigation began with the sheriff's department in April 2002. The investigation was made public in August 2003 when subpoenas were issued to three real estate brokers. For most of the time since then, the investigation has been in the attorney general's office.

On several occasions for the past year, attorney general spokesmen told the Southeast Missourian that a finding would be reached "soon," but the investigation dragged on.

Multiple sources familiar with the investigation said part of the delay was caused because the original attorney general special prosecutor was fired from his position midway through the process.

Those close to the investigation say the inquiry took so long that the statute of limitations ran out on some of the accusations.

"That might have been the matter on a couple of instances," said attorney general spokesperson Jim Gardner, "but the bottom line is there was no indication of wrongdoing."

Al Spradling III, Sander's attorney, said it "was about time" the ruling came down. He said the attorney general did not respond to several requests for status reports.

"It was very disturbing, asking for status reports for a year and have absolutely no acknowledgment," he said. "This fishing expedition was a tremendous waste of taxpayer's money, in my opinion."

Sheriff John Jordan said the department worked on the case off and on for a couple months. He said he respects the attorney general's decision but disagrees that the investigation was a waste of money.

"We were called upon to do an investigation and hand it over to the attorney general," Jordan said. "And that's what we did. If there's an allegation that somebody has done something wrong, you investigate it. Our job is to do investigations. It's necessary for checks and balances of government."

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635